A Royal Secret
by DaughteroftheOneTrueKing
Summary: Princess Alice finds something out that will be hard to deal with.


**Title Ideas: Acknowledgement, Impossibilities, The Royal Secret**

**Hello again my wonderful readers! By now you know the spiel- Captain, Wimbourne Wasps, blah blah :) This is round 6 for QL. Our tasks have to do with Shakespeare! I have to write about Wizarding Royalty, and I have a pretty great idea for it! Hope you all enjoy! See ya soon!**

**Word Count: 1253**

***Note* The royal family I write about within this story is completely fictional and has no relation to any actual royalty.**

The young princess sat alone in her bedroom, reading as many books as she could manage, spread out and open to various pages on her desk. Alice traced a finger under the line of text she was reading. Since she was only eleven, there were still a few words she didn't understand the meaning of. She came across one such word now and tried her best to figure it out.

"Acknowledgement… " she murmured as she pondered the troublesome word. She read over the sentence once again. It was from a book of etiquette she'd been given to study. _Acknowledgement of subjects should be shown by a small nod or other such small gestures. Exuberant greetings are unbecoming. _"So that means… to greet someone or let them know you know they're there."

A quick check in her dictionary told Alice she'd gotten it mostly right. She didn't exactly enjoy reading these books, but she knew they were important—after all, one day she would become Queen, and she wanted to learn all she would need to know so that she would do the best job she could. It was only recently she'd been set the task of studying as the most important role of her life, and felt she was well on her way to knowing all she would need to know to one day rule her kingdom well.

Alice was all set to move on to another book when she heard a small _tap tap tap _at her bedroom window. She got up from her comfortable chair and crossed over to the window, where she saw a surprising sight—a tiny owl sitting on the sill, carrying a letter around one of its legs. She'd never seen an owl in her life outside of zoos, let alone one that had seemingly carried a letter for who knows how long a distance.

Taking the letter from the little owl, Alice examined the envelope. It seemed to be made of parchment, with green writing.

_Miss A. Dandrige_

_The Middle Bedroom on the Third Floor_

_Halfreid Castle_

_London, England_

"How do they know where I sleep?" Alice murmured in surprise. She hadn't even read the letter, but she already had a feeling whatever was within the envelope would change her life. She turned it around to open it and saw a large wax seal. It was some kind of crest, a large letter H surrounded by an eagle, a serpent, a badger, and a lion. It wasn't any symbol she recognized, and she had studied many.

For a moment, she considered not opening the letter—just tossing it in the trash and dismissing it as some ridiculous prank. However, she was a curious girl by nature. Eventually, that curiosity got the best of her, and she eagerly opened the letter_. _

_HOGWARTS SCHOOL_

_of WITCHCRAFT and WIZARDRY_

Headmaster: Albus Dumbledore

_(Order of Merlin, First Class, Grand Sorc., Chf. Warlock,_

_Supreme Mugwump, International Confed. of Wizards)_

_Dear Miss Dandrige,_

_We are pleased to inform you that you have been accepted at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Please find enclosed a list of necessary books and equipment._

_School term begins on 1 September. We expect your owl no later than July 31._

_Yours sincerely,_

_Minerva McGonagall,_

_Deputy Headmistress_

_PS_—_As your parents are Muggles (non-magical people), one of our professors will come to your place of residence in the next several days to help explain things to them._

Alice stared at the words blankly. What was this Hogwarts? And all the talk about owls and witchcraft? Was this some prank by someone who disapproved of the royal family? It seemed much too official for that to be the case.

Just as Alice was about to disregard the letter as some silly stunt, she remembered a few instances in her life that made her consider its words further.

Once, when she had been about seven, she had been running through the halls of the castle and had skidded across the marble and down a nearby flight of stairs. The fall should have killed her, made her a paraplegic, or at least left her with several broken bones. All she had ended up with had been a sprained wrist and a few bruises. She had told her parents, the King and Queen, that she'd only fallen down a few stairs, knowing that she would have sounded crazy if she had admitted to falling down the whole flight. But she'd known that something unusual had happened.

Another time, when she had been even younger, maybe four, she had been sitting at the table. A meal had been set before her that she hadn't wanted to eat, but she had been forbidden to leave the table without finishing. After twenty minutes of sitting and staring at the now cold food, she had made it disappear. She had almost forgotten about it, the miraculous event had happened happened so long ago. She had said she'd finally caved in and eaten it, but she had known she hadn't. She'd never been able to explain it… until now.

As she thought of these events, she began to believe that as impossible as it sounded, the letter just might be true. The question now was, what would she do about it? Her life was so public, it would be almost impossible to keep something like this a secret. Yet, secrecy would be imperative. If anyone normal found out she was some kind of... Of… witch, they'd never allow her to be Queen. She knew perfectly well how witches had been treated in the past. People didn't trust what they didn't understand. They wouldn't comprehend her powers, and so she would never be trusted. It'd be a miracle if her subjects didn't pull her off the throne themselves.

The postscript of the letter gave her a solution. She pulled out a piece of parchment and a pen and sat at her desk to write a reply to this Professor McGonagall. For a few moments, she couldn't think of how to explain her situation but finally came up with something.

_Dear Professor McGonagall,_

_From the phrasing of your letter, it seems like you don't know who I am. I'm Princess Alice Dandrige. I don't know about magic, or your school, or anything else. I would very much love to attend, but my life is so publicized, I don't know how I could. If you could find some way of keeping things a secret from… well, the world, then I will happily attend Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. If that is not possible, I don't think I can._

_If you have a solution, I look forward to your visit. If not, I am sorry to have not met you._

_Yours,_

_Princess Alice._

Alice stared at the letter for a moment, making sure it sounded right. Eventually, she stood and crossed back to the window where the small owl that had delivered the letter was waiting patiently. It held out its leg in anticipation, and Alice carefully affixed her letter to it.

"Um, I want this to go to the place where the other letter came from…" Alice trailed off. Before she finished speaking, the owl flew up and off into the afternoon.

Alice stared off after the bird, and as it flew out of sight, she grew content that whatever outcome her letter brought, she would meet it head-on. She was scared of being found out, but she knew that acknowledging her fear would be the first step in her new journey.


End file.
